VICTORIA — The disappearance of four-year-old Michael Dunahee from a Victoria playground 20 years ago still haunts police officers and his family.
The crime has remained one of the city’s darkest unsolved crimes.
Over the years, Victoria Police Sgt. Grant Hamilton said police have received 10,000 tips and all have been investigated.
Just last month, police obtained DNA evidence from a young man living in Chase, B.C., just east of Kamloops, who many believed could have been Dunahee.
Hamilton said the DNA evidence ruled out the young man “who admitted he did look a lot like Michael.”
Dunahee vanished on March 24, 1991, while his mother was playing a flag football game and his father was watching from the sidelines. The search for the boy remains one of the largest police investigations in Canadian history, involving thousands of officers over the years.
Deputy Chief John Ducker said he lost sleep for years over the case.
He said he was a junior investigator 20 years ago and recalled the massive police investigation that had him working 15 days straight, with no clues.
“I’ve never seen an effort like that in my history in policing,” said Ducker. “We just didn’t get that one piece of information.”
Hamilton said the case is not closed: “Our goal is to bring Michael home.”
His parents, Bruce and Crystal Dunahee, attended the press conference and Crystal thanked police for their ongoing efforts.
She shed tears as Ducker spoke about the early days of the investigation and the emotional toll the case has taken on him personally.